New Orleans City Council urges school systems to fight blight

The New Orleans City Council had some advice this week for the city's public school systems: Take better care of your vacant and blighted buildings.

A resolution sponsored by Councilwoman Stacy Head said unsecured buildings pose "a health and safety threat to the community."

Eliot Kamenitz, The Times-PicayuneThe former NOCCA campus at 6048 Perrier St.

She pointed particularly at a former school in the 5700 block of Annunciation Street, the former NOCCA building at 6048 Perrier St. and a former custodian's cottage in the 3600 block of Camp Street, which she called a "precious, precious building."

Her resolution, approved 7-0, called on the Orleans Parish School Board and Recovery School District to "immediately address their abandoned properties by complying with local law and adequately securing all unused buildings" and making them available for redevelopment "by working with surrounding communities and the mayor's administration."

The council also called on a wide array of agencies to make sure that school and Regional Transit Authority buses don't drop off riders in front of neglected lots and buildings.

Police said a teenage girl walking in the 4700 block of St. Claude Avenue was raped in October after a man emerged from an area of tall grass in front of an abandoned house and pulled her into the building. A 47-year-old man was arrested this month and booked on charges of aggravated rape and aggravated kidnapping.

A resolution, introduced by Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell and approved 7-0, urged various city agencies and the two school systems to "focus upon mitigating blight and eliminating neglect and ensuring that bus stops and drop-off sites are secure."

In other actions, the council:

Completed the accounting paperwork for the changes it made in the past month to the 2011 budget. The council added $5.2 million to the account that pays the city's electricity bills and $3.1 million to the Sanitation Department budget. The revisions reflect the higher property tax millage and sanitation service fee the council approved, which together will add $8.3 million in 2011 revenue.

On a rare divided vote, agreed to let Mark Glago, owner of 629 St. Charles Ave., retain a second-floor center door and transom that he installed without the permission of the Historic District Landmarks Commission. The building, the most intact of a row of 1836 townhouses, is in the Lafayette Square Historic District.

Head said she was torn on the issue, noting that the commission itself was divided on whether to let Glago retain the features. She said she would like to be able to fine the owner for flouting the law, but the current law does not allow that.

She told her colleagues to "vote your conscience," and three of them -- Jackie Clarkson, Susan Guidry and Kristin Gisleson Palmer -- went against Head on the issue. Even so, the 4-3 vote meant Glago can keep the door and transom.